Area-Based Management

The conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and their biodiversity depends on the appropriate planning and management of human uses, both within and beyond areas of national jurisdiction. Area-based management tools (ABMTs), such as marine protected areas, pollution control zones, or fisheries closures, have been recognized as critical instruments to ensure the maintenance of vulnerable biodiversity, through the restoration and stabilization of the values that humans derive from marine and coastal ecosystems. The ocean and its resources are governed by a fragmented framework of national, regional and international institutions (e.g., the IMO for shipping, the ISA for seabed-mining, the FAO and RFMOs for fisheries, the Regional Seas Conventions for conservation and for sustainable use of the marine environment). All these frameworks promote an integrated approach at effectively managing the marine space.

However, significant legal gaps remain, especially with respect to emerging maritime activities and the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). Despite promising recent accomplishments there is still a long way to walk towards the consecution of an integrated management of the marine spaces. In fact, recently launched high level policy-related processes have put the ocean high on the political agenda‒including the Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goal for the ocean (SDG 14)‒, the development of a legally binding instrument under UNCLOS, the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in ABNJ, the joint Action Plan of the European Commission, and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign and Security Policy (i.e., “International ocean governance: an agenda for the future of our oceans”). Collectively these processes provide a unique opportunity to advance global ocean governance and enable effective area based management. Interesting triggering questions are: what can be learned from tools (e.g., MSP) and from the analysis of examples of good-practices examples as mechanisms to drive integration and cross-sectoral harmonization?